Millions of people are affected by strokes each year and strokes are a leading cause of disability and death. The damage caused by a stroke can be reduced by early and efficient treatment. Existing stroke treatments, however, can be suboptimal. For example, one treatment method is to insert a ventricular drain into the patient's brain to relieve pressure and drain blood that has collected in the brain as a result of the stroke. A thrombolytic agent such as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can be administered to the patient to help break up blood clots and the allow the clots to drain out. This treatment method requires the thrombolytic to be delivered very slowly and the drain must remain in the patient for an extended period of time (e.g., many hours or days), which lengthens time spent in surgery or the intensive care unit and results in suboptimal patient outcomes. There is a continual need for improved methods and devices for treating stroke.